by Dena Christy
“Evie. Is something the matter?” The scuffle of his boots on the floor sounded behind her as he moved closer. She squeezed her eyes shut as his clean masculine scent filled her head. She was hyper aware of the closed office door behind her. She was alone with him, and he sounded so good, smelled so good that she was tempted by him. There was no point in exploring what he stirred inside her. He was leaving.
“No there’s nothing wrong. I should get some work done, and I’m sure you have a lot to do before you leave tomorrow.” She stared at her desk, but made no move to do the work she claimed she should be doing. A gentle masculine hand wrapped around her upper arm and turned her around. She took a deep breath and looked up at him.
“I think there is something the matter. Why else then will you not look at me?” His velvety, dark onyx colored eyes searched her face, and she hoped that he wouldn’t see what being so close to him did to her. He was leaving and starting something now would be stupid. It wouldn’t go anywhere, it couldn’t. For a second Evie kicked herself for keeping her distance from him in the days since his release. If she hadn’t been so stupid to keep him at arm's length, maybe she would have learned what it would be like to have his strong male body pressed against her, to have him buried inside her. It could have been a memory that she could use to comfort herself in the lonely years to come, but now there was no time.
“I’m a little sad that my friends will be leaving. You will make sure that they are fine in their new lives, won’t you?”
A look crossed his face, and for a moment she thought perhaps that he could see she wasn’t telling him the whole truth. While she would miss her friends that wasn’t all of it. She would miss all of them. She'd grown to like the strange men who’d invaded her bunker, him most of all.
“I will look out for them as if they were my family. I will make sure they stay safe until we get to Latroth, and I will visit them when I can to make certain that they are happy in their new lives.” His hand was still around her upper arm and she noticed just how close he was to her. She only needed to step forward a few inches and she would feel his hard, muscular body pressed against her. She stayed where she was. There was no point starting any of this.
“I know they will be happy with Synn and Ryce. I once threatened Ryce that if he hurt Collette in any way that he would have to answer to me. I realize now that both Synn and Ryce love my friends and would give their lives to keep them safe. I know I don’t need to worry about them.” She eased back a step and his hand fell away. She felt the loss keenly, but she needed to keep her distance from him. It was too late now. Come this time tomorrow she would be back to her old life and that was the way she wanted it.
He looked at her for a long moment as if he was contemplating something. His eyes darted down to her lips, and her heart thudded when she thought he might kiss her. One kiss wouldn’t hurt, would it? It would be a memory she could pull out for comfort at those times when the solitary nature of her life hit her. He gave an imperceptible shake of his head, one she would not have noticed had she not been watching him so closely.
He opened his mouth to say something when a shrill, blaring alarm sounded, drowning out what he would have said. That sound, one she had hoped she would never hear, made the cold hand of dread squeeze her heart. This was the distress alert, and if Rebecca triggered it, something happened that could spell doom for them all.
“What is that?” Cynric put his hands up over his ears and he leaned closer to her so she could hear him. She shook her head. She didn’t have time to explain, she had to find Rebecca and see what was going on.
“Find the others. Depending on what’s going on, we may have to evacuate.” She didn’t waste time explaining any more. She ripped opened her office door and raced down the hall. She could hear Cynric’s heavy footfalls pounding on the floor behind her. Why wasn’t he looking for the others? Unless he knew where they were, they might not have enough time to gather everyone together.
“Why haven’t you done as I asked?” She sprinted down the hall, feeling like her legs were moving faster than her body could make them go, and he kept pace with her easily.
“They are all in the common room which is in this direction.”
One thing was certain, Cynric knew how to keep his cool in a crisis. The same could not be said for her. She prayed this was a false alarm, but she didn’t think it was. Cynric went toward the common room, and she kept going forward until she came to the communication room.
Rebecca was busy stuffing all her portable computing equipment into a duffle bag, and she looked up in panic when Evie walked in the room.
“Rebecca, what is going on?” Evie shouted to get her voice above the din of the alarm.
“The military is coming, and I figure we have twenty minutes to get out of here before they arrive.”
The moment she had dreaded since she’d set up this bunker had happened. She’d been discovered and now she would lose it all. With a calm she was hardly feeling she walked over to Rebecca’s station and hit the button to turn off the alarm. Blessed silence filled the room and Rebecca looked over at her, her face growing pale.
“Evie, what are you doing?”
“We’ve been alerted, so we don’t need to listen to that racket. Do you have everything you need to be able to work away from here?”
“Yes. Evie what are you thinking of doing?” Rebecca said as she zipped up her back.
“I want you to get the emergency bag I know you have packed in your closet, and load it into the van. Tell the others to grab only what they need and have them load it up as well. Then I want you to take them to their ship so they can escape.” A calm settled over Evie as the initial panic of her situation went through her. This was it, the moment she’d been worried about since she’d set this up. The funny thing was she wasn’t as worried about it as she thought she would be.
“Come with me, Evie.” Rebecca grabbed hold of her arms and Evie smiled at her.
“I’ll follow along, but you know that I need to clear the records we have here. I can’t risk anyone learning what the women’s new identities are, and even with the building destroyed there is a chance the electronic records can be retrieved somehow. There are others in our network that need to be protected. We have safe houses that can’t fall into military hands. We’ve talked about this. It needs to be done.” Rebecca looked like she wanted to argue more but Evie held her hand up. “We don’t have time. Do what I asked.”
Evie eased out of her grip and turned back to the work station. She drew up a program on the computer and punched in a code.
“Evie.” There was despair in Rebecca’s voice, and Evie ignored her.
A softer alarm came on, and it was almost soothing. Over the intercom a voice came. “This building will self-destruct in ten minutes.”
“Go, Rebecca.” Evie didn’t look at her employee and friend as she sat down at the computer and deleted records as fast as she could. Once this was done she would leave.
As soon as Cynric strode into the common room, Synn and Ryce shot to their feet. Miranda and Collette had their hands over their ears as the shrill alarm screeched throughout the building. Whatever was going on, it was serious enough to put a petrified look on Evie’s face. He never wanted to see the pale, stark fear in her face again, and it took every ounce of will he had to tear himself away from her. He wanted to be with her, but he needed to be here with his people.
“What’s going on?” Synn’s voice bounced off the walls when the alarms suddenly went silent. Cynric’s ears were still ringing from the piercing sound, but perhaps this meant that it was a false alarm. It wouldn’t hurt to be cautious, and stay alert until they had the word from Evie that the crisis was over.
“Evie said that we may need to evacuate. We will stay here until we get word on what we are supposed to do. Have any of you packed anything that you need if we are forced to flee?”
“Miranda and I have packed up most of the things we have, and we can be ready to g
o at a moment's notice. I don’t know about the weapons that you’ve collected. That’s not my forte.” Collette looked over at Ryce as if to check with him.
“Ryce, what is the status of the weapons? Are they accessible at a moment’s notice?” He hadn’t thought about the weapons until Collette had brought them up, but they would need them. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but unless they could defend themselves they were vulnerable.
“I have all the weapons we’ve stolen packed in a duffle in my room, and I can get to them in under two minutes.” Ryce tucked Collette close to him. At least he knew his men would take care of their women and ensure they got out safely if need be. He only had to worry about getting out Evie and Rebecca.
Another alarm, this one much softer than the one that came on before sounded in soft pulses. A voice came on over the intercom, its soothing tone belying the seriousness of its message. “This building will self-destruct in ten minutes.”
“It looks like we are evacuating. Everyone get whatever gear is necessary and leave everything else behind. We’ll load the van and get the hell out of here. Take less than ten minutes.”
His men obeyed in an instant, and everyone raced out of the common room and to their respective rooms. There was no sign of Evie as he sprinted out of the room and rushed toward the bedroom he’d been assigned. There wasn’t much he needed to get, and he only hoped that Evie was prepared for such an eventuality so she could get out of the building quickly. He went to his room and grabbed the duffle that had one change of clothes and the rifle he’d liberated from the soldier they had ambushed.
He dashed out of his room and saw the others emerge from theirs with bags of their own. Thankfully they had been preparing to leave before this had all happened. He made sure he brought up the rear as everyone rushed up the stairs at the end of the hall, and to the top floor of the warehouse.
There was no sign of any danger at this level, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t out there. Something was coming, and if the building needed to be destroyed because of it, it wasn’t good. As a group they raced out of the building and out to the parking lot toward the van. When they got to it they loaded their things into the back. There was no sign of Evie and Rebecca.
Cynric turned toward the building. Where the hell was she? Should he risk going back in there to look for her, or would he wait with the others? The door at the back of the building opened, and a stab of relief went through him. The feeling was short lived when he saw it was Rebecca coming through the door, with a duffle strapped to her body and dragging two suitcases behind her. He ran up to her and grabbed a suitcase.
“Thanks,” she said as she looked up at him. There was a worried scowl pulling her brows together, and it was answered by a feeling of dread in the pit of Cynric’s stomach. Where the hell was Evie?
“What the hell is going on?” He took the case and threw it into the back of the van. He darted a glance back at the building but there was still now sign of Evie.
“The military is coming. I got an alert on one of my spy programs. We have to get out of here before they get here. Everyone will need to get in the van and I’ll take you to a safe place until we can figure out how to get you to your ship.” Rebecca threw her duffle into the back and shut the back doors of the van. The others were climbing inside, and while he appreciated their preparedness, there was one person who Rebecca seemed to have forgotten.
“Where is Evie?” There was still no sign of her, and the time they had until the building destroyed itself was quickly slipping away.
“She wants to stay behind and destroy the computer records so that other members of the network and the safe houses can’t be traced. I tried to talk her out of it, but she’s stubborn. She wants to protect the others and the women we’ve helped.”
There was no way Evie was going to stay behind and take the risk of destroying herself for the sake of a few records. If the military found this place, they could find another place in Evie’s network, and her sacrifice would have been for nothing. He would drag her out of there himself. “Where is she?”
“The communication room.” There was a look of hope that crossed her face.
“Get in the van and get ready to go. I’m bringing her out.” He said no more, spun around and sprinted toward the door to the building. He raced inside, and the voice over the intercom told him that he had five minutes until the building destroyed itself. Half the allotted time was gone, and if Evie wanted to argue she could do it in the van. He had every intention of throwing her over his shoulder and dragging her out of here if he had to.
He skidded to a halt when he got to the communication room. Evie sat at the computer desk, hitting keys in rapid succession as sweat rolled down her pale pinched face.
“Evie, you have to come with me.” His voice boomed from the doorway and she let out a startled yelp as she looked in his direction.
“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with the others? Get out now.” She made no move to get out of the chair, and he would not bother arguing with her. The voice told him that he had four and a half minutes. He was taking her out of here now.
He strode over to the desk, put his hands on her waist and picked her up out of the chair. “We are leaving. Do I need to carry you?”
She pulled against him. “I have to delete the records.”
He assumed she wanted to be carried. He scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. “Your life is worth more than a few records. Do you have anything you need to take with you?”
“Put me down.” She slapped against his back, and it did nothing to deter him. The computer said they had four minutes, and there was no longer any time to linger. It was unfortunate, but she was going to have to get out of here with nothing but the clothes on her back, and the ornaments in her hair. He raced out the door, hardly feeling the weight of her body as she bounced against his back.
“You don’t understand. I need to delete the records. It’s important that I protect the others.”
“It’s not as important as your life.” He wouldn’t hear anymore about it. He was taking her out of there and that was the end of it. She’d seen the futility of fighting him, and she went slack against his back. He raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and he had three minutes by the time he hit the door leading out of the building.
Everyone was settled in the van by the time Cynric sprinted across the parking lot. He grasped Evie’s waist and shifted her off his shoulder. She quickly scrambled into the van and he got in beside her. He shut the door with a slam.
“Drive.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the van pulled away, with Rebecca in the front driver’s seat. They had only made it a short distance away from the compound when there was a deep rumble that vibrated their seats. With a quick glance back, Cynric watched in horror as the building they’d only just gotten out of exploded behind them. The compound folded in on itself, and after a moment it no longer existed, going up in a fiery ball.
He glanced at Evie out of the corner of his eye, and she stared straight ahead, her face white and pinched.
If the military was after them, it was his fault. Evie had lost everything because she had extended help to them. He didn’t know how he was ever going to make it up to her, but he had to find a way.
Chapter Six
The convoy of military vehicles, of which Commander Clancy was in the lead car, pulled up to the address he’d been given and what he saw sent shock through him. There was nothing left to show the rubble surrounded by a parking lot had ever been a functioning building.
His car pulled to a halt, and he got out to survey the damage. It would take hours to sift through the rubble to see if there were any bodies inside, but he didn’t think he would ever be that lucky. There was only one explanation for the destruction in front of him. They’d known he was coming. How had they’d known he was coming? Why did those aliens always seem to be one step ahead of him.
Sinclair came up to him and stood behind
him with a look of trepidation on his face. He was smart to look scared. Someone had leaked that they were coming or someone had been careless in their communications. The result was the same. If there were no bodies in the building, it meant the aliens had eluded them. Again.
“What would you like us to do, sir?”
Roland’s mouth tightened as he stared at the smoldering mass in front of him. “Make sure the fire is out and sift through the building to see if any useable information can be found.”
“Shouldn’t we be looking for bodies, sir?” Roland looked over at Sinclair. Surely he wasn’t that dense. The only reason this building had been reduced to rubble was because their coming here had been discovered, and the aliens and Evangeline had destroyed the place to keep them from being tracked.
“I doubt we will find any. I don’t think the building exploded accidentally.” Roland turned away and went back to his car. He glanced at Sinclair. He should order him to find the leak, but how well did he know Sinclair? The man had proven his willingness to sell out his other commander, so he was not one to be trusted. Roland had no guarantee that he wasn’t betraying him. “Get a crew in there and find anything that can be of use to us.”
He’d conduct his own investigation into what had happened. Now he had two calls to make.
He got in his car and pulled his tablet in front of him. He hit the first number he intended to call. When Serena's face came on the screen, he couldn’t hold in the anger burning a hole in his gut.
“Do you want to tell me why all I’ve found at the address you’ve given me is a smoldering wreck? Did you tell Evangeline that I was coming?” He wasn’t expecting to hear the truth if Evangeline had been tipped off, but he hoped that he could read it in her face if it was true.
“Why would I tip her off? I’m just as surprised as you are that the building has, as you say, been destroyed. I’m not so stupid that I would betray you, since as you mentioned in our previous conversation, you can easily destroy me.”